1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and method that use non-lethal force for crowd control. More particularly, multiple soft pellets are propelled into a crowd, in a non-lethal manner, to disrupt the organization of the crowd. Most particularly, the soft pellets are propelled into zones of the crowd, disrupting the self-sustaining momentum found within the crowd. The device and method are useful when fixed from a myriad of terrain or vehicle platforms.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Rioting and mass mob actions are encountered by military and police units during the performance of their duties. In both calculated and spontaneous actions, often crowds involved in rioting and mob actions direct their energies towards a particular person to harass, object to possess or location to occupy. The focus of a mob may include, for example, foods, medicines and other necessities during famine or other catastrophes, harassment of political persons during civil unrest, destruction or ransacking of buildings, and possession of weapons located within storage facilities. Mobs may also desire to occupy significant locations, such as parliamentarian offices, military compounds, federal building, embassies, and airports to disrupt operations and/or harm personnel staffing those facilities. When confronting the mob action, civil authorities are generally outnumbered by the mob members who have lost any sense of control, resulting in situations that force civil authorities to consider and possibly use deadly force to control a particular situation, resulting in serious injury or death of one or more individuals.
When possible, use of an effective amount of non-lethal force is desirable over the use of deadly force. Security force, however, may be confronted with uncontrollable crowds where current non-lethal method of deterrent are ineffective inhibiting crowd action. Known non-lethal devices generally are effective against individuals, but remain ineffective against large numbers of people, particularly at close range. Rubber bullets fired from a sidearms may incapacitate individuals within a crowd, while still not interrupting the momentum of the crowd. Water cannons may be used in crowd situations, but the use and implementation of the water cannons is cumbersome and restricted.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improvements for non-lethal crowd control. The present invention addresses this and other needs.